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Several wildfires spark to life

Several wildfires spark to life

Bondad Landfill fire contained

SHAUN STANLEY/Durango HeraldA single-engine air tanker drops fire retardant ahead of a lightning-started wildfire near La Posta Road and U.S. Highway 550 Wednesday afternoon. The fire is called the KJ Fire.

SHAUN STANLEY/Durango HeraldA single-engine air tanker drops fire retardant ahead of a lightning-started wildfire near La Posta Road and U.S. Highway 550 Wednesday afternoon. The fire is called the KJ Fire.

Several fires were reported Wednesday, including one near Bondad that burned 5 to 10 acres and was 60 percent contained as of 6 p.m. Wednesday.

The KJ Fire was about 1½ miles west of U.S. Highway 550, close to where the State Line Fire burned 350 acres in June, said Durango Interagency Fire Dispatch Manager Kit Kemsley.

The fire was reported shortly after 2 p.m. Wednesday and was threatening a power line.

A hot-shot crew was called in to fight the blaze along with a single-engine air tanker and a helicopter. Durango Fire & Rescue Authority responded to the fire.

The KJ Fire was near a landfill that caught fire Tuesday evening near Bondad, about 15 miles south of Durango. The landfill fire is contained, and the management company is in charge of overseeing the site to make sure it does not rekindle, said Karola Hanks, fire marshal with DFRA.

Sixteen fires were burning in the area, but the majority were less than one-tenth of an acre in size and were expected to be put out Wednesday night, Kemsley said.

One fire, dubbed the Mancos Rim Fire, was burning on Ute Mountain Ute land near the burn area of the Weber Fire. It was about a quarter-acre in size as of 4:45 p.m. Wednesday, and a helicopter was assisting.

The East Capote Fire was burning on Southern Ute Indian land near U.S. Highway 160 and Lake Capote and was about an acre in size. A helicopter also was working that blaze. It was 80 percent contained, Kemsley said.